Chapter 28: Innocence

Soujirou lay, curled up in the fetal position, shivering in Aoshi's shadow. Tears stained his face.

"Now… you remember…"

Soujirou was on his feet in seconds, swinging his blade as wildly as the look in his panicked eyes. Aoshi, being the skilled one he was, dodged easily.

"One who does not know what to believe anymore has no reason to fight," Aoshi said calmly. "Therefore, he loses the ability to think clearly when faced with a problem."

Soujirou kept swinging and screaming, unable to do anything else. "I-HATE-YOU!" He yelled between slashes.

Aoshi continued evading smoothly. "Do you hate me, or do you hate yourself for being the stupid boy that you are?"

"Shut up!" Soujirou cried.

Aoshi turned his kodachi around and gave Soujirou a blow in the stomach with his hilt. Soujirou made a noise that sounded like an 'oomph' and then coughed blood out onto the floor.

Aoshi sheathed his blades. "It's not even worth it now…"

"No…" Soujirou coughed from his spot on the ground. "No… kill me… You can't leave me this way…"

Aoshi kicked him right under the chin, making him fall onto his back. "Hell doesn't deserve scum like you. Clean up and maybe I'll give you that honor. I'm angry enough as it is that you took my kill… but to cower like that… well, it doesn't make me look strong at all…"

"-but--"

"Piss off…" He walked out of the room, his shoes leaving an echo throughout the room.

Soujirou lay with his hand to his face, not blinking, not moving.

As he faded from consciousness, the chandelier lights twinkled like the stars in the sky. Hell doesn't deserve scum like you… Aoshi's statement rang in his ears… and yet… in that moment between being awake and asleep, he truly felt… innocent.

-

Kenshin seemed to notice the traps from a mile off, traps Sano had never even expected. He wasn't sure how his friend had gotten so good at seeing these sorts of things, but there wasn't time to question it. Megumi could be in real danger! Or not. Either way, he wanted to see her, just in case.

The wanderer boy slashed down a few security cameras and then blocked a handful of sedative darts that came out of the wall with his blade. "I believe that's the last of them…" Kenshin said, turning towards the door at the end of the hall and knocking.

"Megumi-san, are you in there? It's Kenshin and Sanosuke. We've come to save you, hello?" Kenshin called through the door.

Silence.

Sano growled. "STEP ASIDE, KENSHIN!"

"Oro?" He did so.

"FUTAE NO KIWAMI!" Sano yelled, slamming his fist into the door. It exploded.

"We could have checked to see if it was locked first…" Kenshin mumbled.

Sano yelled, "MEGUMI! ARE YOU HERE!"

The closet door was half open. He marched over and swung it open all the way.

Megumi was in the corner with her head in her knees. Sano did not yell anymore. He dropped down and took her shoulders so she would look at him. "It's really us, you know," Sano said, smirking.

"Sa-Sanosuke…" She whispered, blushing, shocked.

"Let's get the hell out of this place. We got a lot of stairs to descend, you know… Heh, descend. I guess my tutoring is really paying off, heh-heh." He stuck his tongue out.

"I can't leave… I had to come here so I could protect you guys from… Kanryuu…"

"Kanryuu is dead."

Everyone turned around. Aoshi stood in the doorway, looking bland of emotions as usual.

"Aoshi… you-" Kenshin began.

"No, I didn't," Aoshi responded. They waited for him to tell them who had, but when he didn't say anything, they shrugged it off.

"Hey… HOW'D YOU GET UP HERE SO FAST!" Sano yelled.

"I took a shortcut through the vents so I wouldn't have to face the booby traps," Aoshi replied smoothly.

"Wh… WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THAT BEFORE!" Sano growled.

"You didn't ask."

"AGH! You're as bad as stupid Saitou!"

Megumi still hadn't gotten over the phrase about Kanryuu.

Sano, who had recovered from his angry spell, smiled at Megumi. "Are we going or not? You heard the man."

"OH!" She cried, throwing her arms around him. His cheeks turned red, and he scratched one of them with his index finger.

"Soujirou was here…" Kenshin mumbled to Aoshi.

"Yes."

"What'd you do to him?"

"I didn't kill him if that's what you're wondering."

That was the closest thing to an answer he was going to get out of Aoshi.

Sano helped Megumi to her feet. "Let's get the hell out of here. I'm hungry."

"Hiko-san's probably worried about--- you know what? I bet he doesn't even know I'm gone," Kenshin replied flatly then sighed.

Aoshi just stood there while the half of the Kenshin-gumi there passed him.

We really are doomed…He concluded.

-

The trip home was a lot louder than the trip there. Since Kaoru and Megumi had their differences, it seemed they found it necessary to point out every single one and argue about it. The worst part was, Yahiko thought it'd be funny if he called shotgun, and since Sano was driving, that put poor Kenshin right in the middle of it.

Apparently, Kaoru and Megumi both thought Kenshin as an object of affection. It wasn't that he didn't know this (or at least with Megumi anyways) but it was incredibly hard to play dumb while sitting right in-between the two.

After about an hour and a half of bickering, Kenshin was about ready to pass out, when Kaoru played her trump card.

"Oh yeah? Well, Kenshin asked ME to the dance!"

-and all was silent.

It was like that part in a western right before the sheriff and the bad guy faced off. All they needed was the tumbleweed.

"You lie!" Megumi yelled.

"No way!" Kaoru retorted.

"Oh, look! A fast food place!" Sano chimed, squealing the tires into the parking lot.

"I have to go call Hiko-san!" Kenshin said quickly, hopping over Megumi and out the car door.

"Kenshin! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!" Megumi and Kaoru yelled in unison.

"ORO!"

He was safe in the phone booth, for now anyways, and he dialed up Hiko's number. He waited three rings before Hiko picked up.

"Hello?" His voice grunted on the other line.

"Um… hello, Hiko-san," Kenshin said.

"YOU! You little idiot! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!" He shouted into the phone

"ORO! I… I was just… um… I was with Sano and Yahiko and Kaoru-dono… We had to go save Megumi-san from Takeda Kanryuu…"

"I didn't ask what you were doing, I asked where you were!"

"Um… Izu…"

"WHAT! What'd you go to Izu for!"

"I just told you…"

"You'd better get back here really fast so I can kick your ass! You've been gone overnight! I didn't allow you to go on some road trip!"

"She needed our help… W--- were you worried about me?"

"OF COURSE NOT! This house is a wreck, and I know how you like to clean."

"Oro… I expected that kind of answer…"

"GET YOUR ASS BACK TO TOKYO!"